It seems unthinkable that Charles Strickland, the dull, bourgeois city gent, would have the tortured soul of a genius. Yet Strickland is driven to abandon his home，wife，and children to devote himself slavishly to painting. In a tiny studio in Paris he fills canvas after canvas，refusing to sell or even exhibit his work. Beset by poverty，sickness，and his own intransigent nature，he drifts to Tahiti，where，even after being blinded by leprosy，he produces some of his most extraordinary works of art. First published in 1919 and inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin，The Moon and Sixpence is a study of a man possessed by the need to create - regardless of the cost to himself or others.